Nothing to do with the NME this time…
Which album is this? And who is the famous reviewer?
“(X’s) fretless and flanged bass scribbles through (…) like a crayon across the face of the Mona Lisa. It wobbles like a weeble on a see-saw. It staggers like a drunk in a bouncy kebab shop. It writhes like an inflatable wraith outside a secondhand car dealer.”
Paul Young – No Parlez.
Penned by Tom Hibbert in Smash Hits
Album – correct!!! Especially for you, Mr Digit!
But not Tom Hibbert…
Chiz?
…is the correct answer!!!
Reviewed by Chiz, The Afterword, 24/07/2017
And here it is.
Well, I like No Parlez, so there! Yes, it obviously sounds of its time, but I clearly remember hearing Love of the Common People over the speakers in the Oxford Street Virgin Megastore, buying the LP there and then and playing it to death (it even still has the free 12” single enclosed). I’ll get my coat now and hand in my AW membership card on the way out….
You are not alone. It’s a good record, and he was a great singer. The Secret of Association is even better. Plus, Pino is the secret weapon. Some would argue he’s a total weapon.
I like it too. I like Paul Young – I loved the Q Tips album back in the day. I saw them at college and stood next to PY at the bar. He is very tall. I most recently saw his Tex Mex outfit Los Paceminos who were fun too.
Los Pacaminos are indeed very good fun, but I haven’t seen much about them of late so not sure if they are still gigging…? I interviewed PY when they came here many years ago and he was a delightful fella….and indeed very tall indeed!
I too loved No Parlez, at least until I saw him at Odeon, New Street in Brum, as a then elderly 33 year old, feeling ancient in the audience of much younger girls.
I don’t hate it – its appearance in the Tiny Quiz is more of a recognition of @Rigid-Digit’s persistence and @Chiz’s NME-style turn of phrase.
This does now mean I need to find a new stock answer …
No Parlez is a truly excellent album.
Burn your playhouse down is ace. Almost peak Pino.